Quand l'espoir meurt
by Confused I Am
Summary: Lt Meehan has barely escaped death. Now with no troops to assist him, he has to regroup with the remnents of Easy company while avoiding capture by the 96th Volsgrenadiers, led by the notorious General Victshen
1. When hope dies

Lt Meehan's POV

0400 hours until the jump

US Air force base, England

Lt Meehan had never been so scared before in his life. His whole body was trembling as the fear and anxiety grew inside him. How is he supposed to lead Easy Company into war in the state that he is in, he thought. He needed to calm himself down so he took a swig of whiskey from his canteen and pulled a cigarette from his inside pouch. He spotted Lt Winters and Compton driving passed him in a military jeep, both wearing smiles on their faces. How could they smile at a time like this? Did they not realise that in four hours they would be jumping into hostile territory and possibly to their deaths? Lt Meehan pulled his M1941 Johnson rifle from the protective casing and loaded a clip, then chambered a round. He always liked to jump prepared, unlike the new recruits of the 101st who were taught to keep their weapons in the casing until after they jumped.

Most US troops used the M1 Garand, which was standard issue for the troops. Higher ranked NCO's often used the Thompson or the M1918 BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) or the M1 Carbine. The Johnson however, was his ideal weapon as it had higher accuracy than its competitor.

0300 hours until the jump

Meehan headed towards the tent his company had been assigned to. Inside they were all watching a movie which didn't interest him so he decided to return to his tent to wait for Lt Winters to report to him the positions of the last 3 training drops.

A few minutes later Winters voice was heard and he beckoned for him to enter. Winters displayed a map showing the positions of the last drops. Meehan couldn't believe what he was seeing. They were being dropped into Normandy, the frontier of the Allied assault.

"Sir where are we being deployed?" Winters asked.

"Normandy," Meehan replied.

0100 hours until the jump

Lt Meehan gathered all the troops and briefed them of the details of the mission. They were to drop into occupied France and capture key towns to cut off the enemies reinforcements in preparation for the D-day landings. This mission wasn't going to be easy, there would be no relief should things go drastically wrong and they had to preserve their ammo until a beachhead was secured. These towns would enable friendly armour to pass through, further drawing the Germans back over the Rhine. He ordered Easy to line up near their sticks, him lining up at his at the same time.

"Good luck to you all and I'll see you in France."

With this he ordered everyone into the planes, giving the defending Tommies a wave and boarding his plane too. One by one the planes took off, heading towards their unexpected fate. He made sure all the soldiers had their weapons ready and then let them relax, knowing that this calmness wouldn't last for much longer

Jump time

Lt Meehan ordered everyone onto their feet.

"Equipment check!" He shouted over the roar of the planes twin propeller engines.

Each soldier confirmed that they were ready.

"Hook up!"

The sound of all nine soldiers hooking their clips to the wire could barely be heard and he had to look down the plane to make sure everyone was ready to go.

After being satisfied with his checks he turned to the door, ready to jump.

With such precision accuracy of the gunners down on the ground, Anti-air rounds made short work of the left propeller, igniting the fuel storage and setting the cargo bay ablaze and engulfing the troops inside. Without thinking Meehan dived out of the plane, knowing that the drop zone was no where near his location. He deployed his parachute and looked upwards towards the descending burning plane, seeing troops still on fire pouring from the doorway that he just barely escaped from. The troops attempted to open their chutes, not realising until it was too late that the chute had disintegrated into nothing and plummeted to their deaths. He could feel the emotional pain, how unfair it was to die that way, in another country where their body would be left where they breathed their last breath and not returned home to the loving family they left behind.

Meehan reached the ground with a sharp thud as his boots touched on the soft grass below. He could hear voices over the hedge in front if him.

To his right lay a long dead cow, rotted to the bone. He did a quick equipment check, cut his canopy and folded it into his backpack. He shouldered his weapon, aiming in the direction of the voices and proceeded to investigate the source.

**Authors Note **

**Just an idea that came to me. In the series they never found his body so who knows what happened. Any suggestions or facts about WW2 that I should know then please feel free to message me.**

**Please R&R,**

**All the best,**

**Me :D**


	2. Enemies from the sky

***This takes place before the airborne drops***

**Chapter 2**

Hans Kruber, only 19, joined the German army with his friends. He was now part of the 96th volksgrenadier squad, led by the general that he had so much respect for, General Victshen. He was a man full of discipline, and in one case, Hans remembered well just how much this man wanted his troops to fear him.

***FLASHBACK***

"How dare you! How very dare you! You endangered your entire squad, soldier! Your stupid idiotic actions got 4 of your squad killed!"

Hans could faintly overhear the general shouting at the unlucky soldier. Hans knew what would happen. The soldier would be locked in a secure room with no food or water for 3 days. Yes this was harsh but it struck fear and loyalty into this ragtag bunch of SS rejects.

The soldier deserved it though.

**4 hours earlier**

Hans and 8 other men were sent on a patrol to the French town of Oradour-sur-Glane. There had been an increase in attacks from the French Resistance in the area and the railway line had been destroyed. Hans slid his Kar98k over his back and set off after the patrol leader, a young trigger happy unterfeldwebel (sergeant) who had been turned down by the infamous Waffen SS numerous times.

The men proceeded on with minimal noise. Only the sound of boots hitting the tarmac road could be heard, and the occasional order from the sergeant. Suddenly the sergeant motioned for the men to stop. Immediately the men stopped, crouched and shouldered their weapons. Sweat was pouring down Hans' head, the fear of a merciless French attack striking into him. The French took no prisoners. Hans desperately searched the bushes to his left, scouting for any movement. A slight rustle of a leaf would be enough for him and the rest of the squad to fire a volley of shots into the bush, just to be sure. No one wanted to die, especially when the overwhelming sense of victory was felt by each

Wehrmacht soldier.

Satisfied with the fact that nothing was in the bushes, Hans faced the sergeant. He was prone in the middle of the road. What an idiot, Hans thought. How did he ever get promoted in the first place! If the British could ever recover from the devastating attacks that the Luftwaffe had brought upon and storm across the channel to liberate France then Hans was sure that the sergeant would be one of the first to get killed, probably by running at the British firing his weapon at them like a madman. If he was really lucky then they would probably be too shocked to fire at him. Oh how easy life would be without him. He sometimes prayed that someone would kill him, how a grenade could 'accidently' roll into his room, or how Hans' weapon could misfire. Hmmm such lovely thoughts, he thought.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a woman dashed across the street ahead of them. Hans, fluent in English and French, shouted to her.

"Halt!" he shouted. The woman froze in the road.

"Slowly, with your hands in the air, walk towards me. Slowly!"

She spoke back to him in English, her French accent still strong.

"I do not understand what I have done, I'm only going to the butchers for eggs." She said back to him.

"What did she say? It could be a trap! Tell her to stop and lay on the ground now!" The sergeant screamed at Hans.

"Excuse me miss, but could you please stop where you are and lay on the ground with your hands pointing towards me, it's just precautions miss" Hans said. The sergeant gave him a nod and walked over to the woman who was laid on the road. Without any warning, he unholstered his Walter sidearm and shot the woman point blank in the head.

"That's one less to worry about boys, now lets go steal some food" the sergeant addressed to his men. Each man only looked at him with shock, anger and bewilderment plastered onto their faces. Hans noticed that two soldiers slightly brought their weapons up, but obviously having second thoughts, brought them down again. As Hans walked towards the body laid in the ground, a volley of shots immediately fired from the bushes to the right of Hans, bringing two soldiers down, two bullets in each of their heads. Wow, they sure know how to shoot, thought Hans. The sergeant took cover behind the dead woman on the road. This man disgusted Hans, first he had the cheek to kill her and now he hides behind her body. Does he have any respect for anyone? He thought. Hans had to stop himself from shooting him so many times, he hated this man. He was hoping that one of the French would shoot him. A man to the right of him dropped dead, a bullet yet again in the head. Wow these French knew how to shoot. Hans took initiative and took charge of what was left of the squad. He didn't care about the sergeant now; he could die for all he was worth.

"Fall back and regroup at the northern end of the road," he ordered. He was surprised that the men actually listened to him, and not one of them questioned his orders.

"What about the sergeant, Hans?" one of the soldiers asked.

"Leave him, I'm sure he will figure a way out." The remaining 5 men sprinted away from the battle that was still going, the sergeant firing pointless rounds at nothing. Hans hoped that he would die there, next to the woman that he shot for nothing. In fact no, she didn't deserve his body next to hers, it wasn't fair on her. On Hans' left another German soldier was shot dead, but Hans didn't need to check the body to know that it was a clean shot in the head, the soldier's sudden silence soon proved that. These couldn't be the French; they couldn't shoot as perfect as this. Hans and the remaining 4 soldiers finally reached the northern end of the road, where a German checkpoint awaited them. The gunfire in the distance had slowly died down, and a wounded sergeant came half walking, half jogging up the road. Blood soaked his right arm and his face. The sergeant had a rag tied around his arm which was now covered in blood where he had been shot. If only a little more to the right, Hans thought. The sergeant had no weapons and surprisingly had no ammunition in any of his pouches. As Hans and the remaining men were sent to an aid station, Hans couldn't help but feel uneasy. Who had been training the French to shoot like that? Why were they suddenly rising up? Were the British and Americans planning an invasion? Hans couldn't go to any ranking officer about this. Hitler didn't take too kindly to soldiers that doubted him. He classed it as treason, which was punished by death by hanging you in front of your entire regiment, just to make an example and strike fear into the soldiers.

Hans noticed a small company sized group of soldiers head to the town, accompanied by 3 armoured cars and a Panzer IV Infantry Support Tank. These men all wore the SS insignia on their collars. You had to feel sorry for the French some times, the town would likely be 'cleansed' of all population.

Hans later found out that the French had captured the sergeant, stripped him of his weapon and ammunition and sent him with a piece of paper with one word scribbled onto it, BEWARE!

***END OF FLASHBACK***

"Sir, with all due respect, she was probably part of the French Resistance anyway, I just gave us one less to worry about." The sergeant smugly replied.

"And if she wasn't? You know now, all over France, thousands of French will rise in revolt against the German army now. Hundreds of our troops stationed in France will suffer painful deaths at the hands of the French, all because of you, soldier!" The General shouted at the sergeant.

Well that gives us more French to kill then sir, we have to make a few sacrifices to win the war, why not start now?" The sergeant had now moved from his chair to the side of the abandoned banker's office. A shot rang out in the office, and the sergeant's body slumped to the floor. The General holstered his weapon and looked at Hans.

"Congratulations sergeant, you've just been promoted," The General addressed to Hans.

"Thank you sir it's a plea- he was interrupted by the radio operator bursting into the office.

"General sir, British spitfires have crossed the channel. We believe they are acting as forward recon for a possible invasion of Normandy. The British Royal Navy have already left the southern ports and have a blockade around the Northern coast of France. Several British and American Dakotas are stacked on the runaways of many British Air Force bases on the English southern coast; these images were captured by one of our planes."

The radio operator handed the file to the General. He motioned for Hans to come towards him.

The images showed various airfields with hundreds of cargo planes on the runways. What Hans wanted to know, was what the cargo was. Could they be dropping a huge supply drop to the French? No that would be too risky. Maybe an assault from the air? No they wouldn't be stupid enough to try that. Would they?

"Hans, what does this look like to you?" The General asked him.

"Sir, I honestly have no idea. Maybe an assault from the air? Like soldiers from the sky, if that's possible sir." Hans replied.

"Yes, I fear the same. But I don't understand why the British Navy would be mobilising. An air attack would devastate us, there is just too much open ground for us to cover. But with all the defences in France, it would be suicide for the British to attempt a head on assault, even if the Americans are assisting them."

Hans thought for a minute about the images displayed before him. The planes, the Navy, Frances impregnable defences. With the Navy alone, if the Brits and Yanks did get a foothold on the beaches, Germany could just call for reinforcements and eradicate the Royal Navy and all of the soldiers that came with it. But with an airborne attack, they could drop soldiers all over France, cutting off German reinforcements. It was all so clear now. The increased attacks by the French Resistance, blowing up railway lines to the front and blocking off the roads. They must have received training off the Brits. They could already be here, preparing for the final push into France. Britain and America have air supremacy, with practically no Luftwaffe to oppose them.

"Sir, what if the British and Americans coordinate a joint airborne and ground attack? They could easily cut us off from our reinforcements."

"I will speak to Himmler and Rommel, see what I can find out off them. Until then, you are promoted to Lieutenant, and my second in command. What you have seen in this room must not leave this room, understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"I believe an invasion is imminent."

And with that, Hans took that as his cue to leave.

**A/N – Sorry for the long delay guys. Its exam time so not got a lot of free time. But here is chapter two.**

**Please R&R**

**Thanks **

**Me :D**


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